Conversations between quarterback Russell Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, and the Seattle Seahawks have been positive and encouraging, according to Rodgers. Then again, his client is willing to play out the final year of his rookie deal if necessary.
That’s the biggest takeaway from Rodger’s lengthy interview on 710 ESPN Seattle Thursday in which he made it clear that there is no urgency to get a deal done if the right deal isn’t available for his client.
“Neither side has any real deadlines,” Rodgers said on the Brock and Salk Show. “I know the public and the fans and media have put a sense of urgency on this, but there really are no deadlines. Russell Wilson is under contract, and if he has to, he absolutely would be fine playing his fourth year under a four-year contract, then moving on from there. I don’t feel any particularly crunch on time.
“This didn’t sneak up on us. Financially we have planned long-term for him to play for the $1.5 million, so there isn’t any expectation of additional money coming in from the Seahawks this coming year. Russell doesn’t have a mortgage, he doesn’t have a car payment.”
Rodgers also made it clear that Wilson won’t approach the 2015 season any differently whether or not he signs a lucrative new deal. Rodgers said that Wilson, who was in Jacksonville Thursday attending the funeral of teammate Cliff Avril’s father before flying back for Friday’s Organized Team Activities, hired a new trainer this offseason and is as focused as he has ever been despite the outside talk about whether or not he’ll sign an extension prior to the final year of his rookie deal.
“Can he play through it?” Rodgers said. “I will tell you that the fans and media are much more concerned about how he will handle this than he is. This isn’t what Russell and I talk about every day, this isn’t something that is foremost on his mind. He had a phenomenal offseason. … His mindset is to go back to the Super Bowl and win, and that’s really been the predominant mindset.
“These negations are not going to determine how he approaches his day-to-day job, which is being the starting quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks. I think you’ll find that he’ll be the same person regardless of how much money he’s making, whether he gets an extension or not.”
While Rodgers said he wouldn’t negotiate over the radio airwaves, one could conclude that he is doing just that by noting his client’s willingness to play out his deal; or by pointing out how unfriendly the franchise tag is to a team’s salary cap; or by mentioning the success he has had waiting for free agency to maximize deals for clients in the past; or by discussing Wilson’s winning record and his importance to the Seahawks’ recent success — though that last point really isn’t up for debate at this point after Wilson helped the Seahawks to two consecutive Super Bowls while winning more games in his first three seasons than any quarterback in NFL history.
But whether or not Rodgers is trying to send a message to the Seahawks with those on-the-record comments — and to be fair, he was answering direct questions, not just throwing those things out unsolicited — he did make a point to classify the negotiations as positive and praise the work being done by Seahawks general manager John Schneider and Matt Thomas, the team’s vice president of football administrations, AKA, salary-cap guy.
“We’ve had an ongoing dialogue, not all of it being negotiation,” Rodgers said. “Some of it just being philosophical, really trying to understand each other’s positions and viewpoints. I would characterize our talks as ongoing, fluid, robust at times, thoughtful. And we’ve made progress, I don’t want to mislead anyone. I love to read and listen to all of the conjecture and speculation about where these negotiations are, but frankly I think about 95 percent of that speculation has probably been off point. I would characterize them as positive and encouraging.”
Rodgers also noted that his client is “very, very happy to be in Seattle, loves playing for the Seahawks, loves playing for Pete Carroll, and understands that there’s something very special going on in this town, and would love to stay a part of that for a long, long time.”
In the end, it appears a deal still isn’t close, but that the two sides are talking and something still can get done this offseason. Rodgers made it known, however, that a new contract is far from being a forgone conclusion.
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